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“I’ve been making a list of things that I want in a house. Mostly it’s everyday stuff that I can use when I’m there. I’d like a few bedrooms. Not eight, but about four. Then I’d like to have a greenhouse. I don’t know why, but I do love the smell of fresh herbs. I don’t cook with them, but I do love the scent. Some of them are very fragrant when you pinch them between your fingers.” He told him that he had a green garden for the cook. And enjoys the smells coming out of it when the cook is cooking for Katlynne. “I can understand that. I don’t have any use for a cook or staff all that much. I have someone coming in to clean once a week, and that keeps the cobwebs from taking over the household. Other than that, it’s just me at the house most of the time. I have my library, and I’m happy.”
“I’ve been working at the library for the last couple of weeks. It’s enjoyable for me, and I love reading to the kids. I didn’t think I would, but it’s fun. They seem to like it too. I wanted to do something different, and that’s what I came up with.” Kenneth said that was a good job. “I’m not getting paid, but that’s all right. It’s more fun this way. I can come in, read to the kids, and then put the books away when I’m finished. I think I like it better than anything I’ve done in a while. Plus I get to read all the new books that come in and don’t have to worry about misplacing them or getting them mixed up in my own library. Katlynne thinks it’s a hoot.”
After they finished up their drinks, they headed out the door. Kenneth told him about the little girl he’d found and what he’d done about her, and Rutger asked if he’d seen Conri in the past month.
“He’s enjoying mated life.” That was an understatement if he’d ever heard one. It was something that the big man would love, along with his mate, that would have little Conris around all the time. “I think his brothers are finding their mates as well. I know that he’s been getting jobs for his people through the things that are going on with the kiss. “Yes, I heard that too. His people are working hard at some of the jobs that have been coming around. I wonder if they get paid enough. I have no concept of how much a person should be making per hour anymore.”
They talked about things going on around town and wondered about the jobs that were coming in. They had nothing to do with that other than to make a few phone calls about them. The mayor in town was the one who was hopefully doing something about them. They needed new jobs, and hopefully he’d be getting them to come in where everyone could have a place to work when needed.
After parting company, Kenneth started home. He still had some things that he needed to get done, and they weren’t getting done while he was visiting his friends. As he was starting up his laptop while lying on the couch, he remembered something that he’d thought of this morning. He wanted to find the man who had been in charge of the vampires in the nest in town. The man was going to be in trouble if he didn’t stop making baby vampires. Even though he was older than two, he still hadn’t been around long enough to provide for them like he was supposed to. If a vampire made themselves a baby, they had to provide for it until they were old enough to take care of themselves.
Usually that meant for them to provide them with a place to rest when it was sunny out, as well as teaching them the rules governing them. He’d not seen him doing that since they were popping up all over town. He’d have to get with Brew to see what he knew about him and his babies soon, or they’d be out of control again. Baby vampires were like toddlers. They would cause trouble no matter how much danger it was to them.
After speaking with Brew, he decided to rest. He didn’t need to, not as much as a new vampire did, but there were times when he just wanted to close his eyes and rest his body. Kenneth had a lot of scars on his body from when he’d been fighting in wars with the others, but he didn’t heal as well as they had. He still had a couple of broken bones that bothered him at times when the weather was cold. He knew that he could get them fixed, but just doing it was a problem. He’d rather just hurt on occasion than have to endure someone telling him that he needed to take better care of himself. He knew that.
After his rest, he decided that he was going to look into things on his computer. He had been looking at investments off and on since moving here, and he wanted to make sure that he still had money. He doubted that he’d lose it all in this short of time, but he just didn’t want to take any chances. It was all he had, and he didn’t want to lose it all just because he’d been lazy about it.
When things seemed to be making an income, he closed his computer and decided that he needed to feed. He didn’t need to do it so often as a new vampire, but he was hungry and decided to find himself some entertainment as well. There was a club that catered to his kind and those of other species that he could go there and feed from, but he’d always been suspicious about them because they were not governed by anyone. Just anyone could come in there and do harm to any of them, and that didn’t sit well with him. He found himself there anyway and decided to have a glass of wine at the bar to check things out for himself.
The bartender brought him his wine and asked him for identification. When he turned it over to him, he decided that he could sit here a while and have a look around. As he was finishing his first glass of wine, he looked around the place and decided, like the other bar he’d been in, this one could use some lighting and upgrades as well. But unlike the other bar, he thought that the darkness was a point of this place.
“You been here before?” He told the bartender, Donny, that he’d not, but had heard about it. “I don’t want no trouble around here, so if you’re casing the joint to do that, then you’d best be on your way. I have a gun here with silver in it, and I’m not afraid to shoot you if you don’t behave.”
“I only came here for a drink and perhaps feed.” He nodded once and told him there was fresh in the back. He asked him what fresh was. “Not a vamp. They know what they’re here for and expect a good payday to do it for you. Mostly they’re humans that need a hand up, but I don’t care so long as they don’t cause any trouble either. I run a good place here, and I expect you to follow the rules too.”
“How much?” He said they expected to get at least fifty for a feeding. “All right. How do I get someone to come to me? Or do I have to go to them?”
He thought it was a good question, and when Donny told him that he could just pick how fresh he wanted and go from there. He said that he’d like them to be very fresh, as in no one else had fed from them tonight. Donny said he could hook him up. But to be nice.
He was always nice, he thought, and when the young woman came to him, he nearly told Donny he’d changed his mind. She didn’t look any older than about eighteen, and he was hungry. But the closer she got to him, the better she looked. She was at least in her thirties and seemed to be in good health. He didn’t want to be responsible for someone getting hurt simply because he hadn’t fed in a while. She slid up to him and stood between his legs.
“I want to come too. It don’t have to be an epic feeling, but enough to take the edge off before someone else comes in.” He said he could do that and moved her hair from her throat. There was no point in foreplay, so he simply licked the area and bit down. Having her think she was having the best sex of her life was no trouble, so when she cried out, he suckled harder on her throat and loved the spike in her blood.
When he finished, she’d come twice more and had been paid. She said that she’d pay him for that if she didn’t need the money, but she was broke. After feeding from her a second time, giving her more pleasure as he was at it, Kenneth decided that he could come here often if things were this easy. He even enjoyed himself somewhat, and that was always a bonus. After paying for her time, he turned back to the bar and drank down his wine.
He noticed that as the sun came up, the place cleared out. The vampires in the room would need to get back to their lairs if they weren’t too old, and he watched as the shifters in the room left as well. He would have preferred to leave when the place was busy, but he was all right when he was the third to the last to leave. He made sure that he wasn’t followed and made it to his car all right. Watching the others, he was surprised to watch as most of them shifted and took off into the woods.
Driving around in the parking lot so that he could get going, he noticed a young woman standing by the back door as if she was waiting on someone. He didn’t bother stopping, but he did wonder when the person that came out of the door with her shifted and left. The wolf with her must have been a friend, as she followed him into the darkening woods.
It was none of his business what was going on, but it did bother him that she needed protection. That was the first thought that had entered his head, and he went with it. His gut told him that she was there for the money, but he didn’t know. Most of the other people there were there for that reason, but he had a feeling it was so much more for her.
Letting his mind wander around about the woman, he felt silly when he got home and realized that he was still thinking about her. He’d have to get with his good friend and find out if any of his people hung out at the bar he’d been to and find out if that was normal. He didn’t want to get anyone in trouble, but he’d be really casual about it.
Going to bed just as noon rolled around, he knew that he’d sleep better than he had in a while. He wasn’t hungry anymore, and he’d had a nice visit with his friends. He still thought about the woman, but that was easy to get over. She was just someone who needed to have a way home, and the wolf volunteered to take her. It was as simple as that. As soon as he was in bed, he closed his eyes and willed himself to sleep.
Waking with his cell phone ringing, he answered it before it went to voicemail. He hated to have to answer voicemails. He usually couldn’t get to the number right, and he’d end up waiting for them to call him back. The caller didn’t like it much; hell, he didn’t either, but it was the way he did things, and he wasn’t going to change after all this time. He didn’t even like having a cell phone at all, but he kept it for business.
Getting dressed for the day, he wondered if he was the last holdout in wearing black clothing. Looking at his suits, he knew that there was really no reason for him to wear them all the time, but he felt uncomfortable without his regular clothing on, so he wore what he wanted. Today there was silver in his tie, and he thought that was about as much color as he was willing to wear. He did wonder if his mate would like for him to wear jeans and shirts like the others were now, and that got him thinking about the woman last night. Shaking his head, he wondered what was wrong with him.
“She’s just a woman I didn’t even meet.” Perhaps he was supposed to, and that’s why it was bothering him so much. Determined to get her out of his head, he decided to get going with some of the little projects he had going so that he could clear his mind. The little projects would take up more time than his larger ones, and that was something that he put off until it was almost too late to deal with them.
By nine o’clock he had finished what he’d set out to do. He didn’t have any appointments for tomorrow, so he was ready to go out late tonight. He found himself at the same bar and looking for the woman. He asked the bartender if there were any humans who were willing to give blood.
“I thought you fed last night.” He said he just wanted to have a little fun. “Fun I can’t provide for you. This is a bar, not a nightclub. You want fun, you go to a hotel.” He was both disappointed and glad that he ran that kind of establishment.
Sitting at the bar with a glass of wine, he watched the patrons. They were a quiet bunch. He could see that there were a couple all over the place feeding. He was surprised that he’d never heard of this place before, as he could have used it a couple of times when he’d been out. He did wonder if any of the others knew about the place and was going to keep it to himself for a while longer. Finally, when the place was closing up, he paid his bill and left with the rest of the crowd.
However, he waited in his car until the place was completely closed up and watched for the girl and the wolf. Right on time, she came out of the back of the building, and the wolf, shifting to its other self, went into the woods, and she followed. This time he knew she was a human and that she was dark-haired.
